No discussion with Pak on civil nuclear cooperation: US

Washington: The US, which is being pressed
by Pakistan for a civil nuclear deal on the lines of one it
inked with India, has said that it is not in discussion with
Islamabad on the issue.

"We`re not in any discussions with the Pakistanis on
civil nuclear cooperation," Frank Ruggiero, US Deputy Special
Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, told reporters
yesterday on the eve of the third round of Strategic Dialogue
between the two countries.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is in
the US for the Strategic dialogue, again sought a civil
nuclear agreement with America akin to the US-India nuclear
deal, during a speech at the prestigious Harvard Kennedy
School in Boston yesterday.

"We certainly seek that because we feel that there
should be no discrimination," Qureshi said when asked if
Pakistan wanted civil nuclear agreements like those signed by
India with the US and other countries.

Ruggiero said that besides the flood relief operations
and developmental issues, the continued existence of terrorist
safe havens inside Pakistan and the apparent reluctance of
Islamabad to take the terrorists head-on would be among the
major topics of discussions during the Strategic Dialogue that
would be spread over three days.

The Pakistani delegation to the dialogue is led by
Qureshi and also includes the country`s powerful army chief
Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The American delegation is headed by
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.